Chapter 16: Pointless Protesting

The rest of the weekend was in some ways idyllic. After we finished eating the pizza, Mrs. Roberts drove us home, stopping to drop off Walter. Jessica called her father, and had one of his employees come to pick up Kathy, Millie, and her. They promised to try to spend more time with us. Mr. Cunningham told us he would be showing up later before driving away from Harrard's.

I rode home with Mrs. Roberts. Ashley let me know that she was not excited by the idea of spending a night in a cold treehouse, so we went down to her basement bedroom to spend the night in her bed. There was not much sleeping going on that night.

Saturday we stayed at the house, playing a series of board games. Jason played with us from the start, and shortly before lunch, Jessica came over bringing Kathy and Millie. The impending televised special and the news of the alien invasion was carefully not discussed for the rest of the weekend as we tried to relax.

I remained at the house through Sunday, only returning to my parent's home late Sunday in time for my father to remind me that we were going to be heading to City Hall at dawn to prepare for the protest.

"We're going to make it about unfair work rules," he said. "We already have an agreement with two networks to televise the keynote speech, and we got Valery Kostantinov to come out and headline."

"Who?" I asked.

"He's a major union organizer and political kingmaker," mother replied. "Supposedly he's helped elect more than one prime minister in Europe and has as much as thirty percent of their parliament owing him favors."

"And he's coming here?" I asked. "I could understand a big city like New York or San Francisco, but here?"

"Too big," my father said scornfully. "We couldn't get the networks there interested, and there are already multiple other groups trying to host some protests and events. If we want to be heard, we need to have it in a smaller city."

I nodded and looked over at mother. "Is Matti here?" I asked.

"She's going to stay with Kelsey and her family," my mother replied. "She won't be participating in the protests."

"Mike will be there?" I asked.

"Of course," my father said. "I'm amazed you even asked. He's going to arrive in the morning. The plan with him is to have him watching out for any official attempts to shut down the protest. He'll be in charge of the teams set up to distract and prevent such efforts."

"Will he know enough to stop before going overboard?" I asked worriedly. "He might end up inviting an overwhelming response."

"Of course he'll know!" my father snapped scornfully. "He's been doing things like this for years. Just worry about keeping any children away from the main body of the protest. We don't need to be dodging children during our speeches and march against the testing center."

"That's a three mile march," I said. "Is that actually going to work? Some of your union members probably haven't walked that far in years."

"Get out!" my father screamed. "It's not your place to worry about things like that. Just be there and perform your job. Make sure there are no problems."

I dashed up the stairs, heading to my room. My father did not follow me. I ducked into my bedroom and sat down at my desk. I wanted to take a few minutes to check my homework and make sure it was completed.

I had checked my history and English homework assignments and was pulling out my math homework when there was a light knock on my door.

"Come in," I called out. "I'm just checking my homework."

The door opened and Mom slipped into the room. She quickly pushed the door closed. There was a worried expression on her face. "Mark," she whispered. "You need to be very careful around your father."

"I just asked a few questions," I replied.

"Yes, and they were intelligent ones," my mother admitted. "The problem is that your father might have wondered why you were asking those questions. If he looks deeper he'll figure out what your score is, or at least that is a good one."

"I'll be careful," I said. "Now I should probably get some sleep."

"Let me guess," Mother said. "You didn't sleep much last night."

"Jason and I did spend several hours playing some board games," I admitted.

Mom nodded. She had a look on her face that made it clear she did not completely believe me. She said nothing though as she left the room. I completed my check on my homework and then got into bed, setting my alarm to wake me in time to get breakfast before heading out to the protest.

My sleep that night was troubled. I had only spent two nights in Ashley's arms, but I found that my bed felt empty without her. When my alarm finally rang in the morning, it felt like I had slept for only a moment. I slipped out from under the covers and made my way to the shower, hoping some warm water would wake me up and make up for a night of little sleep.

I kept the shower short. Once I was a bit more awake, I grabbed a washcloth to lather my body up and rinsed off as quickly as I could. My father was awake and shouting something at my mother before I jumped out of the shower and started using a towel to dry my body.

I dashed from the bathroom back to my bedroom naked. My father's shouts had moved downstairs, and there was no one upstairs to see me. Once in my room I threw on a clean pair of jeans and a black polo shirt. I made sure that the shirt was tucked in before I grabbed my shoes and ran downstairs to the dining area.

My mother was just bringing some toast and a pair of eggs sunny side up to my father. She looked at me and frowned.

"I'll just grab some toast and juice," I said. "Sorry, I tried to wake early."

"Eat fast," my father said gruffly. "I received a call. Valery's flight arrived an hour ago. He's checking into a hotel and will be heading to City Hall. We must be there to greet him."

I nodded as my mother brought over a glass of fresh orange juice. She smiled at me as I grabbed the glass. I sat down and started drinking as she headed over to the stove to prepare her own breakfast.

The meal passed in silence. My father was looking at his phone and reading what appeared to be a series of text messages, while my mother finished cooking and then sat down to devour her breakfast. I barely had time to finish my orange juice and a couple of slices of toast when my father slapped his phone into a holster and stood up. "Time to go."

I swallowed a last bite from the toast. Mother snatched the plates from the table and rushed them over to the counter leaving them next to the sink as my father stood up and grabbed a jacket. I bent down and pulled my shoes on. My father ignored my antics as he strode confidently to the front door.

My mother followed my father, so I got up and joined them as we headed out the front door. My father was in such a hurry that he neglected to stop and lock the door. I held back and made sure that the door was closed and locked.

The delay meant that my father had already started his SUV before I could dash over and jump in the back seat. My father growled something as I slammed the door shut.

"He's hurried," my mother apologized. "It's good that someone thought about locking the door. You were in a bit of a rush."

"We have to arrive before Valery does. It would be a huge embarrassment if he arrived, and there is no one to greet him," my father said gruffly.

My father drove through the streets at illegal speeds. In his hurry to arrive at City Hall, he rolled through more than one stop sign. At one point I saw a police car sitting on a side street as my father ran a red light. The cop immediately pulled out behind us, but then turned at the next side street leaving us alone on the street.

Normally the drive from the house to City Hall would take almost thirty minutes with stops for lights and driving the speed limit. My father stopped for only one red light during the whole drive, and only twenty minutes after we left the house we were pulling into a parking lot across from the City Hall. There were several people working to assemble a temporary podium and stage, but otherwise the area in front of the City Hall was quiet. My father did not wait for the SUV's engine to completely turn off before he was running across the street to approach the workers constructing the podium.

Mom grabbed me as I took the time to lock the doors on the SUV. "Mark, be careful. Your father has become increasingly erratic since the announcement was made."

"He seems as intense as always," I replied carefully.

"He's frightened," my mother replied as she put a hand on my arm. "None of the plans that he and the other union heads have come up with has a prayer of actually changing the opinion of the government, and they all know it. He's thinking that he's about to lose everything."

"It won't happen that quickly," I said. "The government can't just cut off everyone with a low CAP. I'm not sure they'll want to. After all, the people with a six point five will be leaving to join this new space military. If you hire someone with a good score, it's doubtful that you'll get all your training expenses back."

I frowned at that. My mother laughed bitterly. "Just thought of that did you? You aren't old enough to work full time. I can try to find something you can do for cash."

"I'll mow lawns," I said. "We still have a few homes in the area that aren't landscaped."

Mom laughed as we made our way onto the lawn that would be used for the gathering. My father was standing next to one of the construction workers. From the wild hand waving going on, it was clear that the two men were arguing over some aspect of the build. I waited just out of earshot until my father finished the discussion and started walking back toward me. He was shaking his head.

He looked up and for a moment I could see anger in his eyes, but it vanished almost immediately as he pasted a fake smile on his face. "Mark! Can you watch the area near the duck pond? There are usually some retirees out feeding the ducks, and it would be good if we kept them away from the rally."

"Usually you want them to participate," I pointed out.

"Not this time," my father said. "They aren't going to feel all that threatened by the new policy. At least not until they see how much it affects tax revenues."

"You are bringing that up today?" I asked.

"Hell no!" my father snapped. "We aren't going to allow the government to brand us as a bunch of leeches only worried about lining our pockets. Today is about the uncertainty the new plan generates and how it's unfair that people are being locked out of participating."

My father was clearly looking over my shoulder as his voice seemed to trail away. I turned around to see what had distracted him in time to see a limo pull up to the curb. A tall, blonde-haired man with a weathered face stepped out of the vehicle the instant it stopped, not even waiting for the chauffer to walk around the machine. "Damn," my father whispered. "We aren't ready."

My father took off toward the new arrival. His shoulder brushed me, pushing me to the side as he scrambled to meet the man. I glanced back at the unassembled stage and could see my mother chatting with one of the workers. She had her back to me as they conversed, so I decided to head over by the duck pond.

The pond was just to the east of City Hall and part of one of the city's larger parks. Normally, at this time of the morning, there would be dozens of walkers and joggers following the various paths that circled the water, but on this morning I could see only a couple of figures using the park. I slowed my walk toward the pond and looked down the path wondering why the park was so empty.

"There are a couple of old guys in the park's parking lot warning everyone that the union plans another of its idiotic protests," Jason said from behind me.

I spun around to see Jason and Ashley walking toward me. Ashley's face lit up with a smile as she saw me. She was wearing a long skirt and grabbed at it to pull the hem up off the ground so she could run towards me.

"Are they part of the protest?" I asked.

"No," Jason answered as Ashley reached me. She let her skirts fall back down as she embraced me. "I asked. They are retirees who were hoping they could keep a conflict from happening."

"They expect problems?" I asked.

"Not really," Jason said as Ashley tried to kiss me on the lips. "Both men said they retired from the army after twenty years, and they figure that the military knows what it's doing with the CAP scores. They hope they can prevent a conflict from arising."

I was going to answer, but Ashley grabbed my chin and forced me to turn my head so she could plaster her lips to mine. She held the kiss for a minute before reluctantly pulling her head away. "I missed you," she said. "Not having you in bed with me was torture."

"I missed you too," I said honestly, giving Ashley several kisses to the cheek. "I'll find a way to make it up to you."

"Fuck me," Ashley said teasingly.

"What?" I responded taking a moment to look Ashley in the eyes. She had a look of mischief and longing.

"Take me over to one of the park benches, bend me over it and put your cock in my pussy," Ashley said lovingly. "It's not that complex. I need you. I'm horny."

Jason was standing next to us laughing his head off. "Oh god Mark. I wish I had been ready. Your face was classic."

"This isn't exactly funny," I replied. "Actually I'm surprised you didn't try to slug me. After all, I have most definitely corrupted your sister."

Jason just laughed. "Dude! I'm hoping I score high enough to volunteer and can find a woman who is half as sexy and loving as you've made Ashley. Heck, she offered to make breakfast this morning and was singing as she cooked for everyone."

"Everyone?" I asked. "Does that mean the mysterious Becky finally showed up?"

"At nine thirty," Ashley said giving me a squeeze. "I've heard tons of blonde jokes, but this girl really can't walk and chew bubblegum. She tripped over the door jam while entering the house."

"That doesn't mean she can't," I said slowly.

"Dude!" Jason said. "I'm not sure she understands words that have more than two syllables. She worked at the old Moon Shadow Hotel as a maid. I guess she works at some clothing store now, but that was because Morgan knew the owner."

"But she's pretty?" I asked. "I thought pretty blondes were supposed to be hanging from some rich man's arm."

Ashley giggled. "She's not bad, but she could lose sixty pounds and still not be skinny. She's not blonde though, she just likes telling the jokes. Her hair is an ordinary brown. Morgan was right to say she's a girl next door type. It was more that she expected us to rush to the taxi that brought her to the house and carry in her bags. Then she tried to order Mom around. At least Morgan stopped that."

"Morgan? Not Mr. Cunningham," I asked as I ran my hands up and down Ashley's back. She purred lovingly and pressed her mound against me.

"So you will take me over to the park bench?" she whispered in my ear.

Her brother did not hear the question and replied to my question. "He told us that he doesn't want us to call him Mr. Cunningham, and he doesn't really qualify as a dad, so..."

I nodded and then released Ashley. "Ash, that's the wrong skirt for what you want. It's too long for us to keep it discrete."

Jason laughed. "I told you that a short one would be better."

"It's too cold," Ashley snapped. "At least it is until I can get some stockings. And I'm going to get Mark to fuck me today."

"Not until the protest is over," I proclaimed.

"When will that be?" Jason asked. "We've never participated in one."

"Neither have I," I replied. "This is the most I'll do, stand at the fringes and try to keep innocents from getting trampled during the parade."